MacRumors Giveaway: Win Custom-Painted Space Gray AirPods From BlackPods

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve once again teamed up with BlackPods to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a pair of AirPods that have been custom-painted black or space gray to better match darker devices.

We’ve given away black AirPods in the past, but this time around, BlackPods has an all new BlackPods Aero in a metallic space gray finish that’s a nice alternative to the standard white AirPods that Apple offers.

If you haven’t seen BlackPods before, the company takes a standard pair of Apple’s AirPods and then paints them using a proprietary coating system.

There’s a three-phase finishing process for a high-quality coating of paint that’s designed not to chip, fade, scuff, or wear off during usage. Each pair of BlackPods is completed by hand and then given a rigorous inspection to make sure the finish is flawless.

BlackPods offers several finish options — the BlackPods Classic with a high-gloss black coating, the BlackPods Stealth with a matte satin coating, and the new BlackPods Aero Space Gray with a lighter gray metallic coating.

BlackPods Classic are priced at $279, while the BlackPods Stealth and the BlackPods Aero Space Gray are priced at $299. That’s a $120 to $140 premium over Apple’s standard AirPods, but BlackPods is offering one of the only methods to get a unique black or gray finish for your AirPods.

In addition to selling completed sets of painted AirPods, BlackPods also has a service that allows customers to send in their previously purchased AirPods for customization at a lower price. The process costs between $99 and $119 and it takes approximately 10 days to complete. The service includes the painting of both AirPods and the AirPods charging case.

Since BlackPods are simply re-painted AirPods, the full AirPods functionality remains intact, with a W1 chip for simple paring with all of your devices, a long battery life, an accelerometer for ear detection, and gesture support.

We have a set of BlackPods to give away to a MacRumors reader, with the winner able to choose a Stealth, Classic, or Aero finish. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (January 5) at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 12. The winners will be chosen randomly on January 12 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

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Neutrogena and FitSkin’s new tools examine your skin with the help of an iPhone

With so many skin care products on the market, it can be tough to figure out which one is right for your skin type. In an effort to make that process easier, Neutrogena and FitSkin are unveiling a new beauty tool and app that will not only analyze your skin but also identify which products to use and help formulate a routine.

The SkinScanner — powered by FitSkin — uses 12 high-powered LED lights, sensors, and a 30x magnification lens to track your skin’s health both above and below the surface. This type of technology was originally only available to dermatologists, but is now expanding to the consumer market, and promises to make skin care easier and more accessible.

All you’ll need to do is attach the scanner to your iPhone, hold it up to your face, and allow the sensors to examine your skin. Used in conjunction with the Neutrogena Skin360 app, you’ll receive a score for your pore size, lines, wrinkles, and skin moisture levels.

The app will then provide you with a personalized regimen and product choices that best suit your skin. You can also use it to journal your progress, set skin care goals, and measure your results using crowdsourced data from others who are also using the app.

Since Neutrogena Skin360 maintains an associated website, you can research or purchase any of the recommended items through the app as well. The embedded technology of the SkinScanner also uses machine learning, which means your recommendations will get smarter as you use the tool more frequently.

Beauty brands have recently become far more eager to enter the technology space. Last month, NYX introduced its  “Impossibly NYX Professional Makeup” virtual reality makeup tutorial.

Using Samsung Gear VR, customers shopping in a NYX store can watch beauty vloggers demonstrate makeup tutorials. As the steps progress, products float across the screen — giving you an up-close look of the exact products being used so that you can easily shop for them afterward.

Prior to that, MAC Cosmetics launched its own beauty mirror using ModiFace’s AR technology. Instead of physically trying on makeup looks, you’re able to stand in front of the mirror and preview what a certain product will look like.

Both MAC and NYX are allowing customers the opportunity to push boundaries with their makeup looks. But brands have yet to introduce technology that will also address what’s beneath the makeup — and that’s skin.

FitSkin and Neutrogena’s latest innovation will hopefully help to eliminate the pain points of finding the perfect products while avoiding pricey and time-consuming dermatologist appointments. Johnson & Johnson will be debuting the SkinScanner at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Editors’ Recommendations

• ‘Overwatch’ gets esports team skins and new currency in 2018
• From candles to LEDs, a quick look at Christmas lights’ past
• This flexible skin will help robots sense the world around them
• ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ hits theaters early for Amazon Prime members
• Award-winning device catches skin cancer early by monitoring temperature of moles

A metal chassis and new processor elevate Samsung’s new Notebook 7 Spin

Samsung has dropped some details on its update to the Notebook 7 Spin ahead of CES 2018. It’s a Windows 10, 2-in-1 PC that’s getting upped to Intel’s eighth-generation processor and a SSD hard drive that promise to boost performance across the board.

Key Specs

8th-gen Core i5 processor

8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage

13.3-inch HD display

0.73 inches thin, 3.4 pounds

Pricing has not been announced

Samsung’s Notebook 7 Spin was last updated in 2016 — and was a very different kind of 2-in-1. First off, Samsung offered a 15-inch version of the product (which is strange for a 2-in-1), and secondly, it was surprisingly high-powered, with a discrete graphics card, 12 or 16GB of RAM, and the Core i7 processor.

This time around, the Notebook 7 Spin’s specs look a bit more like many other 2-in-1s on the market. It’s got a basic 13.3-inch, 1080p display, a standard 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. thanks to the toned-down specs, Samsung shaved off some of the hefty weight and thickness this time around, while also slightly increasing the battery size up to a 43Wh unit. Although it hasn’t been specified, it appears that the Notebook 7 Spin will probably feature an integrated graphics card — so don’t expect to be able to game on this one.

The port selection is fairly similar this time around — one USB-C port, two USB-A ports, and an HDMI port. The only change is that Samsung appears to have chosen to remove the microSD card slot for its 2018 update.

The other big difference is that the 2018 version of the Notebook 7 Spin is built out of metal, rather than plastic. So while the silver design looks similar to its predecessors, the build quality has received a solid upgrade.

The 2-in-1 also features support for Active Pen use, though it doesn’t come with a stylus bundled in. The device does, however, still feature a backlit keyboard with 1.5mm of travel.

We haven’t received any pricing information yet, but the previous iterations of the 13-inch Notebook 7 Spin started at $800. It’s set to go on sale in the first quarter of 2018.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Apple iMac Pro news: everything you need to know about the professional desktop
• AMD crams desktop performance into ultra-thin laptops with its new Ryzen APUs
• Razer Phone vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 8: A new challenger approaches
• Asus ZenFone 4 smartphones: Rumors and news
• Leaked benchmarks for new Windows 10 laptops show meager performance

The Populele is a gamified smart ukulele that promises to make music (more) fun

Of the many legions of smart devices that will be making their debut at CES 2018, few are likely to be as smile-inducing as the Populele. Because the only thing better than a ukulele is a smart ukulele. After a wildly successful Indiegogo campaign in the summer of 2017, PopuBand Music is back with its gamified ukulele that leverages technology to make learning an instrument as easy as it is fun. And while practice will still make perfect, having a smart instrument certainly gives budding musicians a leg up.

Meant for folks who don’t necessarily have an unlimited amount of time to perfect their musical skills (but still want to impress a lucky lady or lad with a few strums of the strings), PopuBand and its flagship product hopes to make learning the ukulele a bit more accessible to folks who might not be savants.

“We started PopuBand with the conviction that music education can change lives,” said founder and CEO Bohan Zhang. “Private tutors are expensive, and the average person’s schedule doesn’t suit regular classroom attendance. Self-study is fine, but not the best way for everyone. We wanted to make something affordable that empowers one to truly learn an instrument.”

While the Populele isn’t exactly as affordable as “dumb” ukuleles (which can often be found within the $25 to $30 range), you’re not just paying for the instrument when you buy the $200 Populele package — you’re also paying for built-in lessons and an accelerated learning process. Moreover, the PopuBand team notes that their instrument is of a higher quality than you might find from a ukulele purchased from, say, Walmart. The Populele ukulele is constructed by hand with premium European maple and Italian Aquila strings. Its fretboard learning system features 72 built-in LED lights that connect via Bluetooth to let you know where your fingers need to be at what time.

The smart ukulele also comes with a companion app that boasts musical games, a tuner, a 100-plus song library, recording capabilities, video tutorials, and the ability to easily share your progress on various social channels. So if you made a promise to yourself to learn something new in 2018, the Populele just might make this particular goal a bit more attainable.

Editors’ Recommendations

• 5 suprising, promising, sometimes ominous ways computers changed in 2017
• What kind of crazy TVs will we see at CES 2018? It starts with LG’s 8K OLED
• The best 3D printers you can buy for under $1,000 right now
• ‘Dreams’ is a game about making games, and it goes as deep as you want
• Here’s all the best gear and gadgetry you can snag for $50 or less

Should you buy the Pixel 2 or wait for Pixel 3?

The Pixel 3 will likely be an amazing phone, but the Pixel 2 is still an excellent purchase.

Of all the phones released in 2017, few stood out to us as much as the Pixel 2. There’s no such thing as a perfect smartphone, but the Pixel 2 comes darn close thanks to its industry-leading camera, wicked fast performance, reliable battery life, and excellent software experience.

The Pixel 2 is an improvement to the original Pixel is just about every area, and while that makes it a great buy, we also can’t help but wonder what Google will do to make the Pixel 3 even better. One forum user with the 2016 Pixel asked our community if they should pick up the Pixel 2 now or wait for the Pixel 3, and this is what you had to say:

Retinella
01-04-2018 09:58 AM

“

Well, the OG Pixel and Pixel 2 have those bezels, even after Google knew Samsung and Apple would get small ones. I don’t see the design language changing drastically for the Pixel 3.

Reply

idiotekniques
01-04-2018 08:11 AM

“

Or get both. That’s what I’m doing 🙂

Pixel 2 XL now, Pixel 3 XL end of this year, keep the Pixel 2 XL as a backup phone and for the occasional overseas trip

Reply

scorpiori
01-04-2018 01:52 PM

“

The bezzels defentily don’t bother me, If so, I actually love how this device (black!) is looking this year with the bezzels along with the speakers.

Wouldn’t wait one more day to get it 🙂

Reply

toiday
01-04-2018 09:31 PM

“

If they keep having a trade deal then it’s not bad to get a new one every year.

Reply

How about you – Would you buy the Pixel 2 or hold off for the Pixel 3?

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

• Pixel 2 FAQ: Everything you need to know!
• Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL review: The new standard
• Google Pixel 2 specs
• Google Pixel 2 vs. Pixel 2 XL: What’s the difference?
• Join our Pixel 2 forums

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An essential guide to customizing your Android phone

Be different, not the same is more than a tagline when it comes to Android.

Android provides us the freedom to change nearly everything about our phones, especially when it comes to our home screens. We aren’t stuck with a bland grid of icons; we don’t live in our app drawers the way iPhone users do. We can add widgets; we can add search bars and gestures; we can have blank space wherever we want, not just at the bottom of an unfilled page! And if we don’t like the way our home screens look with the launcher that came with our phone, we can ditch it and use a third-party launcher, opening us up to new worlds of customization and theming.

This is our final day in our 12 Days of Tech Tips series. So, ready to make your phone your own? Let’s get started.

Wallpaper wonder

Every phone or tablet comes a selection of wallpapers — images for your home screen or lock screen background that give your device a bit of personality. But often times those wallpapers don’t reflect your personality. We need to change that. Wallpapers are the most basic building block of Android theming, and changing your wallpaper can change the way your entire home screen feels. If you take nothing else away from our guide here, I implore you, please, GET A NEW WALLPAPER.

Whether that means browsing Google’s Wallpapers app, finding an artist you like on Deviantart or just browsing through some of our wallpaper roundups, I guarantee you that there’s a wallpaper out there that speaks more to you and your style than the default wallpaper your phone came with. You can even set one of your photos as a wallpaper, be a picture you snapped on a vacation or a silly snapshot of the grandkids.

It can be anything in the world or out of our world, just long-press your home screen and set a new wallpaper.

Launchers and layouts

Nova Launcher and Action Launcher, themed to perfection

The app that we use to organize and launch apps on an Android device is called a launcher. Every phone ships with one on it, though some are better than others. Most launchers consist of one or more home screens — where you can put the apps and widgets you use most, a dock — where you can keep your most-used apps visible and accessible from each home screen, and an app drawer — where all of your apps are kept for easy access and organization. The launcher is what you use to put your apps where you want, and the layout is how you have apps and widgets laid out on your home screens.

Your phone might have come with a clock widget and some pre-installed apps covering the first few home screens, and you can delete these items to make room for things you actually do want. You can also consolidate apps on your home screen into folders by pressing and dragging one app icon over another. Folders look better in some launchers than others, but there’s no denying how functional they can be in helping keep the apps you use close by. Switching up your layout is a really easy way to shake up your launcher experience.

Some launchers allow you to change the grid size on your home screens, allowing you to fit more apps and widgets on a single screen. If your launcher doesn’t allow you to resize home screens or customize your layout much, you might want to consider switching to a new one. Most third-party launchers have ways to import your current layout from your previous launcher, except for maybe widgets — we’ll get to those in a moment.

Want to try a new launcher? These are our favorites

Widgets and icon packs

Material Music Komponent for KWGT

If you have a launcher you like, another way to jazz up your home screen is by adding a widget or two that can enhance your Android experience by helping you do something without having to open the full app up. If the weather outside is important to you, have a weather widget like 1Weather on your home screen so you can see what the next few hours or days are going to be like when you’re out driving in this ridiculously cold air.

One of the primary uses of my Android is playing music, so my home screens always have a music widget on them so that I can quickly pause my music or switch tracks without having to open up my music app. Most music apps come with a widget or two for your home screen, but there are third-party music widgets that are more flexible with your music sources and or easier to theme if the one that comes with your music app isn’t as pretty as you’d like.

Ombre icon pack

If you don’t need any widgets, consider adding a cool icon pack, which will replace the icons for your apps with something more consistent than the hodgepodge of icon shapes, colors, and styles we see on Google Play. Some packs cover more app icons than others, though more and more icon packs are including quality icon masks to ensure all icons are consistent. Icon packs aren’t supported by every first-party launcher, but most third-party launchers support them, though some launchers respond differently to icon masks than others.

Read more: Best icon packs for Android

Theme it up!

If you don’t feel like exploring and coming up with a theme yourself, don’t worry! We’ve got plenty of easy-to-use, easy-to-love themes that are ready and waiting for you in our theme guides!

• Dark theme pack
• Christmas castle theme
• Rainbow theme pack
• Summer theme pack
• Beauty and the Beast theme pack
• Star Wars theme pack, Vol 1
• Star Wars theme pack, Vol 2
• Marvel theme pack
• Batman & Superman theme pack
• Pokemon Go theme pack

No matter your taste or style, there’s a theme out there for you! If you have a theme you’d like to see us do in 2018, tell us in the comments!

Your turn

The sky’s the limit when it comes to theming your Android. Whether you just need a new wallpaper or you want to completely change the way you see your home screen, there’s a theming style out there that’ll work for you. If you’re looking for more theming awesomeness, here’s everything you need to know about Android theming.

These Orig3n DNA test kits on sale can tell how your genes affect behavior, intelligence, and more

It’s in your blood.

Today’s Amazon Gold Box deal of the day features these Orig3n mini genetic DNA testing kits on sale. Each kit serves its own function, and apparently some genetic profiles are less expensive than others. For example, the Beauty test kit is down to $49.50 from a $99 street price. It can tell you how your genes might effect your complexion, hair health, and other things.

Each kit is essentially a cheek swab in a box. You take some of your DNA in a simple way like that, return it to the Orig3n lab with a prepaid envelop, and you’ll get a full profile in two or three weeks. What you want profiled is totally up to you:

• Superhero DNA Test Kit for $14.50 – so you can see what kind of superhero you’d be inclined to be should you develop mutant powers
• Hair DNA Test Kit for $19.50
• Behavior DNA Test Kit for $39.50
• Child Development DNA Test Kit for $49.50 (from $99)
• Nutrition DNA Test Kit for $74.50 (from $149)

Check out the full list of testing kits, which covers a lot more than what’s in this list.

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Nokia 6 (2018) is official and ships with a Snapdragon 630

The updated Nokia 6 is here, and it fixes our biggest issue with last year’s model.

On January 4, a Chinese retailer leaked the 2018 Nokia 6 in all of its glory – including specs, press shots, and more. Just a day later, Nokia has officially listed the handset on its website to confirm most of what we’ve already seen.

As we previously saw, the design of the Nokia 6 hasn’t changed all that much from year to year. The phone’s still made out of an aluminum unibody with rounded corners, but the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the back in favor of slightly slimmer bezels. Also as a result of this, last year’s capacitive navigation buttons are gone and replaced with on-screen ones.

The Nokia 6 (2018) might not look like a huge improvement over the 2017 version at first glance, but that’s because the most important upgrade lies under the hood. Our biggest complaint with the last year’s Nokia 6 was that it shipped with the underpowered Snapdragon 430, but this time around, there’s a much more capable Snapdragon 630 that’s paired with 4GB of RAM.

There’s still a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display, 16MP rear camera, and 3,000 mAh battery, and while the Nokia 6 (2018) will ship with Android 7.1.1 Nougat, Nokia says that an update to Oreo is in the works. Also new is a USB Type-C port compared to the older microUSB we saw last year.

The 32GB Nokia 6 will cost CNY 1,499 and the 64GB model will be slightly more expensive at CNY 1,699 (€191 and €216, respectively). Pre-orders are set to begin on January 10 in China, and an expanded release to other markets (including the United States) will likely happen later in the year.

Nokia 6 review: A great phone with one major drawback

Stable Android Oreo build leaks for Galaxy S8 with Dolby Atmos support

Samsung gets the Dolby treatment.

Last November, Samsung started accepting beta testers for an early run of Android Oreo for the Galaxy S8. Samsung’s been informing users that the beta will end on Monday, January 15, and ahead of this, someone’s leaked a non-beta version of Oreo for the S8 on Reddit.

Oreo builds for the Snapdragon-powered S8 and S8+ were shared, and while it appears to very similar compared to what we’ve so far with the beta, it’s reported that this leaked build is smoother, has a new boot animation, and is updated with the latest January 2018 security patch.

Along with these improvements, this build of Oreo finally adds support for Dolby Atmos to the S8. Dolby Atmos has been available on select Android devices for a few years, and it allows users to customize their EQ settings, emulate surround sound when listening to music with headphones, and more.

There’s a toggle for Atmos right within Quick Settings, and while users report that its performance is buggy at the moment, these issues will likely be cleaned up once Samsung is ready for an official release of the software.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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Amazon Alexa will start helping out in the kitchen with microwave controls

Meet your new cooking assistant.

The different use cases for Alexa has grown substantially over the past couple years. The assistant works great for simple tasks like playing music and getting weather info, and using it for controlling smart lights and ordering an Uber never get old. Now, Amazon is planning Alexa’s next great frontier – the kitchen.

On the Amazon Alexa blog, it was recently announced that Alexa’s Smart Home Skill API is gaining support for cooking features, starting first with microwave ovens. With these controls, users will be able to say things such as “Alexa, microwave for 50 seconds on high” and “Alexa, defrost three pounds of chicken” to keep on cooking without having to pound away at your microwave’s keypad.

Whirlpool will be the first to launch these new Alexa controls on its connected microwaves, with GE Appliances, Kenmore, LG, and Samsung also working on upgrading their microwaves and other appliances to be compatible as well.

Although Amazon is starting off with microwaves, the end goal is to expand the functionality to other cooking devices, such as conventional ovens, at a later date.

If you own an Amazon Alexa device, do you see yourself making use of these features as they’re made available?

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• Tap, Echo or Dot: The ultimate Alexa question
• All about Alexa Skills
• Amazon Echo review
• Echo Dot review
• Echo Spot review
• Top Echo Tips & Tricks
• Amazon Echo vs. Google Home
• Get the latest Alexa news

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